Tiny gaming handheld promises lots of fun – and cramped hands
Thumby Color is the logical evolution of Thumby, a small programmable gaming handheld reminiscent of Nintendo’s Game Boy. After all, it raised over 4,500 supporters and 200,000 dollars on Kickstarter
WithThumby Colordeveloper Ken Burns is now trying to top this success. Plus points include a color display, a more powerful processor and an exterior reminiscent of Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance
In detail:
- Thumby Color is powered by a 150 MHz Raspberry Pi RP2350 processor.
- It offers a 0.85 inch (2.16 cm) 16-bit screen with a resolution of 128×128 pixels.
- The device has 16.0 megabytes (yes, megabytes) of memory.
- It comes with internal speaker, 4-way pad, A/B buttons, shoulder buttons and a button for the menu.
- At least four games are pre-installed.
- Multiplayer is supported.
The cheapest version is available for 49 dollars. If you spend six dollars more, you get more colors and multiplayer packages. The ultimate multiplayer package contains ten Thumby Color and five USB-C cables
In addition, there is still shipping and any customs fees.
In addition to gaming handhelds, the developer has also released gaming machines and TVs in mini format. In this video, he explains how he programmed the Thumby Color:
There is a damper
Although Thumby Color is reminiscent of Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance, it is not compatible with Nintendo’s handheld. The memory and processor are not designed to emulate games
Thumby Color is designed more for quick games on the go, although the battery should only last a good two hours.
The games are surprising
All Thumby Color games are free and open source. The four included games show impressively what is possible on the small device
In addition to the obligatory puzzle bobble game, there is also a game that is a little reminiscent of Sega’s Space Harrier.
There is also the dungeon crawler Thumbgeon 2 and the arcade shooter Monstra. Further games are already in development and should be available at launch.
In addition, the more than 100 games for Thumby should also be compatible with the handheld.
At the moment, Thumby Color has 85,000 euros and more than 1,000 supporters. The campaign will run for another 27 days.
What do you think of a gaming handheld for your key ring? A nice gimmick or perhaps better than you thought? Feel free to write us a comment below
